Prince Avenue prepares for top-ranked Savannah Christian

Wednesday

BOGART – No. 7 Prince Avenue Christian is facing the top team in the state on Friday with a spot in the Class A state title game on the line.

The Wolverines will have to endure a long bus ride down to Savannah Christian in order to get a shot at the top-ranked Raiders, the first undefeated team they have seen in the playoffs.

But practice this week has been no different than before Week 1, when Prince Avenue was preparing for Hebron Christian Academy.

“It should be business as usual for everyone,” coach Mark Farriba said. “It won’t be too much different than last Friday except there will be a bus ride in between.”

Regardless of preparation, the Wolverines’ opponent will be very different than the previous 13.

Savannah Christian (13-0) knocked off fellow undefeated and top-seed Lincoln County 22-14 in the quarterfinals Friday to advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive year.

It marked the first time any team was within 20 points of the Raiders’ lead at the end of the game.

“The whole team played well,” Savannah Christian coach Donald Cumley told the Savannah Morning News after the game. “I told them they were going to face some adversity in this game, and they did. They handled it well, and that’s what being a champion is all about.”

When asked about what makes the Raiders so tough, the first thing that came to Farriba’s mind was their defense.

The Raiders are giving up 6.2 points per game. Against the Red Raiders last week, the first-team defense gave up its first touchdown of the season.

They are especially tough against the run, giving up 892 yards on the ground this season (68.7 yards per game). Savannah Christian’s defense is led by DeAngelo Brown, who has scholarship offers from Georgia Tech, Louisville and South Florida. Brown had 9.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for a loss coming into last week’s game.

“Obviously, defensively they are very stingy,” Farriba said. “Last week was the first time anyone scored two touchdowns on them. That says a lot about them.”

Offensively, Savannah Christian and Prince Avenue employ a similar strategy: distribute the ball to a number of players and control the clock.

“They have good speed,” Farriba said. “They have a couple of guys that can really run. They are a ball control team. They can grind it out. Occasionally they will break a big play on a sweep or a pitch. They just play great defense and score when they have the ball.”

Prince Avenue (13-0) has played rushing-dependent teams before, including last week against Bremen and in the second-round against Charlton County.

But both of those teams relied heavily on one player to take most of the carries.

“These guys have good team speed,” Farriba said. “That is the biggest difference. They are a little scarier on offense because there are two or three guys that can take it to the house.”

Despite the fact that his team will be playing its toughest competition of the year, Farriba said his team will have its best chance if it sticks with the plan that got it to this point.

“Obviously you have to tweak something to fit what is going on,” Farriba said. “But there are only X amount of hours that we have and the players have fewer than that. We need to be comfortable doing what we do. If we changed a lot of stuff, it might look good on paper and it might be a good idea. It is just, in reality, we are better off just doing what we know we can do.”

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